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E. R. DRAVEH.

DISK WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 4, 1920. 1,371,077. Patented Mar. 8,1921.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

E. R. DRAVER.

DISK WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 4. I920.

' Patented Mar. 8, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

x Inz/enZbr 6'. r9. UHA VEH 3 725915 80722? E. R. DRAVER.

DISK WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 4. 1920.

1,371,077, Patented Mar. 8,1921.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

[772 4 29 firv )9. Jam/5H J 722.9 worn-g UNITED STATES EEIL B. DRAVER, F RICHMOND, INDIANA.

DISK WHEEL.

Specification of Letters ratcnt.

Patented Mar. 8, 1921.

Application filed Hotelier 4, 1920. Serial No. 414,551.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, E1511; R. 'Dnevnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond, in the State of Indiana, have mvented certain new and useful improvements in Disk Wheels; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to that type of auto- IIlOlQllG OZ truck whe l that is known as a disk wheel, and is directed to improved means for facilitating the charging of the pneumatic tires thereof.

Generally stated, the invention consists of the novel construction and combinations of parts hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

It is a well known fact that disk wheels, such as are used in connection with automobiles and trucks and. are equipped with pneumatic tires, have the valve stems of the inner tubes projected radially inward from the rims at the inner sides of the disks. This makes connection to the valve stem, for charging the tire, a very difficult matter. In the first place, there is no way of readily telling, from the outer side of the wheel, just at what point the valve stem will be found, and, in the second place, after it has been located, it is a difiicult matter to reach the same and to apply the coupling of the charging tubethereto. Moreover. mud and dirt will accumulate around the nipple, making further difiicult the location of the nipple and the connection of the charging tube to said stem.

My invention consists, first, in providing the wheel disk with a port or hole that is alined with or located opposite to the valve stem. so that access may he had to the valve stem through said port or hole; and. in the second place, the invention consists in providing a port cover or closure plate for normally closing said port. This port cover may be arranged in many diferent ways, but is preferably attached to articulated jointed cover carrier or support, so that cover cannot be displaced when removed tron working position.

o veral arrangements of the invention are accompanying drawings, -wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

iheferring to the drawings:

f gure 1 15 a side elevation of a tireerp'upped disk wheel equipped in accordance with my invention;

l is a vertical section taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. i;

F g. 3 is a fragmentary view looking at the 1nner side of the disk and showing the port cover swung to an inoperative or portope nlng position;

Fig. -1- is a view c'rresponding to Fig. 1, but illustrating a modified construction of the port cover;

F1g. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of a portion of the disk illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, showing the port cover swung to an inoperat ve or port opening position;

1* 1g. 7 1s a section on the line 7-7 of big. 6;

Fig. 8 is a horizontal section on the line 88 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 9 is view corresponding to Fig. 1, but illustrating a still iturther modified form of the port cover;

Fig. 10 is a section on the line 10-10 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view looking at the inner side of the disk, but showing theport cover in a normal or port-closing position; I

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary section on the line 12-42 of 11; and I Fig. 13 is an elevation looking at the outer face of theport cover.

Referring generally to the se'x 'eral views, thenumeral 14 indicates the flanged wheel hub, the numeral 15 the wheel disk, the numeral 16 the whee rim, the numeral 17 the tire casing and :l numeral the inner tube, which latter the customary valve stem 19 projected radially inward through the rim 16 and through the flanged rimsupporting portion of: the disk Describing first my invention as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it will be noted that the disk 15 has a port or hole 20 that is approximately alincd with or located opposite to the inwardly projected or charging end of the valve stem 19, so that when said port is open, a hand and the couplingequipped end of the charging tube may be inserted thcrethrough and the latter coupled to said store, as required to charge the tire.

For closing the port 20, I provide a port cover 21, which is in the form of a disk having a laterally pressed or offset rim, which bears againstthe inner face of the wheel disk and stops the cover in a port-closingposition with its outer surface flush with the outer surface of said wheel disk.

To carry the port cover 21 to and from port-closing position, I provide an arm 29- preferahly oi fiat spring steel, which, by ri\ s, is rigidly secured to the lower portion of said cover at its lower freeend, and at its upper end. at a point considerably above the port, is pivoted to the wheel disk at 23.

The tension of the spring arm 22 is such that when the. cover 21 is in closed position. itv will he springheld in such position and then held against accidental movement from its port-closing position. To open theport is only necessary to press the cover 21 so as to disengage it from the port and then to swing the same into a port-opening position, by a swinging movement of the spring arm 22 on its pivot 23. When the cover is then moved hack to poi'tclosing position, it will he snapped or sprung into its seat within the port by the spring arm 22.

l suallv. the wheel dish and the cover will he painted in the same color, and to prevent scratching oi the paintor other surface finish ot the cover when it is being swung to and from the port-closing position, said cover is 1 reicrahly provided with laterally spaced. small or pointed hearing lugs 24. that will directly engage against the inner surface of the wheel disks under such movements.

tlhviousl the port cover, attached as described. cannot become displaced or lost. and may he quickly and easily moved to and from port-closing position. lVhen in a port-closin: position, neither the port nor the cover will he visible to an ordinary observer, except when the wheel is closely inspected, and, hence, neither the port nor the cover mar the appearance of the wheel dish.

ln the arrangement illustrated in Figs. 2 to 8, inclusive, the port provided in the wheel disk 15 is shown as approximately rectangular and. of course. the port cover 25 is correspondingly formed and provided with a marginal flange that limits the outward movement of the cover through the port to a position in which its outer surface is flush with the outer surface of said disk. This port cover 25 is shown as pivoted to the end of an arm 26, the upper end of which is piv oted, by a bolt or pin 2?, to a pronged head 28 that is s'wiveled to the wheel disk at 29. A torsion spring 31. applied around the pivot bolt :27, reacts against the head 28 and the arm 26 and yieldingly presses the cover 25 toward its portclosing position. The arm 26 is pro vided, on opposite sides of its pivotal connection. to the cover 25, with stop lugs 31 that permit the cover but a slight pivotal from the disk 15 when said cover is swung to one side of said port.

lhe port 20, also, is, of course, alined with or located opposite to the end of the valve stem 19, so that when said port is opened, a hand or at least the fingers of a hand may be inserted therethrough with the charging tube to connect the latter to said valve stem.

1n the construction illustrated in Figs. 10 to 13 inclusive, the charging port 20 is shown as a round hole adapted to he closed by a round port cover 3% which fits said port. In this arrangement, the cover 3%. is moved from its port-closing position by first drawing the same outward from said port, and the inward movement of said cover is limited by an offset flange 35 formed on the wheel disk at the edge of said port. The numeral 36 indicates a spring arm, which is pivotally connected to the wheel disk at 37, and at its free end. is looselyjointed to a small bolt 38, the threaded end of which is extended outward through an axial perforation 39 in the cover and is provided with a thumb nut 40 at the outer side of said cover. To prevent accidental rotation of the nut l the cover 34 is shown asprovided with a slightly depressed rectangular seat ll in which the rectangular end of said nut l9 is normally seated.

li ith this construction, the cover 34 may he drawn outward and then swung to one side. so as to about half open the port 20 without removing the nut 40 from the bolt lt, however, the nut to be removed from said bolt 38, the cover 3% may he removed so as to entirely open said port.

The pivoted arm, which carries the port cover. supports the latter for movements bodily and face-wise toward and from the dish so that. it is thereby made feasible. to interlock the cover with its port seat, by lateral movement. The device is adapted for application to the dish that is extended or located on the outer side oi the valve stem, and this is true whether the wheel he a single disk or a double disk wheel. ln a direction radially of the wheel, the port, which will afford access to the valve stem or an applied tire. is approximately alined with the hole in the rim through which the valve stem.is or is adapted to he inserted. The so-called arm, or that part that carries the cover or portion that closes the port, may, as is evident on the disclosures made, he a spring itself or may he su oject to a spring.

What I claim is:

l. A disk wheel adapted to be equipped with a pneumatic tire and provided in its rim with a valve stem passage through which a valve stem may be projected on the inner side of the-wheel disk, said disk having a port approximately alined with said valve stem passage, a displaceable cover for said port, and an arm pivotally supported on said disk and carrying said cover to and from port-closing position, said arm being under spring strain to move toward said disk.

2. A disk wheel equipped with a pneumatic tire having a valve stem projected through its rim, the wheel disk having a port through which said valve stem may be reached, and a displaceable cover for said port pivotally supported from said disk for movements toward and from port-closing position and springpressed toward said dis 3. A disk wheel equipped with a pneumatic tire having a valve stem projected through its rim inward of said disk, said disk having a port approximately alined with said valve stem, a displaceable cover for said port, an arm pivotally supported on the inner side of said disk and carrying said cover to and from port-closing position, said arm being under spring strain to move toward said disk, and means for holding the face of said cover out of contact with said disk when said cover is swung to one side of said port.

4. A disk wheel equipped with a pneumatic tire having a valve stem extended through its rim inwar of the wheel disk, said disk having a port approximately alined with said valve stem, an arm pivot.- ally connected to said disk for swinging movements to and from and along the surface of said disk, and a port cover connected to the free end of said arm for limitedrocking movements in respect thereto so that it will be self-seating in said port, said rim being yieldingly pressed toward said disk.

5. A disk wheel equipped with a pneumatic tire having avalve stem extending through its rim inward of its disk, said disk having a port approximately alined with said valve stem, a spring metal arm pivoted to said disk, and a port cover connected to the free end of said arm and thereby movable to and from port-closing position, said arm having a yielding action in respect to said disk and cover. I

6. A disk wheel equipped with a pneumatic tire having a valve stem located at the inner side thereof, said disk having a vport approximately alined with said valve stem, so that a charging tube may be coupled to said stem, and an arm pivoted to said wheel disk and carrying said cover to and from a port-closing position, said cover being displaceable from said port, firstby pressing the same laterally inward, and second by swinging the same on the arm pivot.

7. A disk wheel equipped with a pneumatic tire having a valve stem located at the inner side thereof, the Wheel disk hav ing a port through which said valve stem may be reached, a port cover pivoted to said disk for movements along the inner surface thereof and toward and from said disk and spring-pressed toward said disk, said cover being displaceable from said port, first by pressing the same laterally inward and sec nd by swinging the same to one side of said port, and means for holding the face of said cover out of frictional contact with said disk, when said'cover is moved to one side of said port.

In testimony whereof I atlix my si nature.

EMIL R. DRA ER. Witnesses:

ESTHER MORGAN, ORRIN DRAVER. 

